Knitting band



Patented Aug. 24, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved method of knitting and to animproved band for practicing the method.

In the method of knitting as now practiced by 5 the means of ordinaryknitting needles, each loop requires five separate manipulations.

It is the object of this invention to produce a method of knitting inwhich a loop can be formed by four manipulaitons, or steps, and in which10 the thread can be held by the left hand.

Another object of this invention is to produce a knitting band whichshall replace the ordinary knitting needle and which shall be soconstructed that the thread can be caught thereby and pulled 5 throughthe loop without the necessity of forming a bight in the thread.

A further object is to produce a knitting band of such construction thatit may be employed with multiple threads to produce a tweed or a Qboucle fabric.

A still further object of this invention is to produce a knitting bandof such cross sectional shape that the resistance to the sliding of theyarn will be greatly reduced.

25 The above and other objects that may appear as this descriptionproceeds are attained by 1 means of a knitting band whose constructionand mode of operation will now be described in detail and for thispurpose reference will be had 30 to the accompanying drawing, in whichthe invention has been illustrated, and in which Figures 1 to 5inclusive designate the successive movements of the needle, or thesteps, required for the formation of each loop by use of 35 the ordinaryknitting needle;

Figures 6 to 9 inclusive show the successive movements of the band, orsteps, required for the formation of each loop when the improvedknitting band that forms the subject of this inven- 40 tion is employed;

Figure 10 is a plan view of the improved knitting band, one end beingshown in section to better illustrate the construction;

Figure 11 is a side elevation of the band shown 45 in Figure 10;

Figure 12 is a cross section taken on line l2|2, Figure 10;

Figure 13 is a cross section taken on line l3- l3, Figure 10; and

50 Figure 14 is a cross section, similar to that shown in Figure 13, butshowing the yarn in place thereon.

In Figures 1 to 5 inclusive, reference numerals 5 and 6 represent twoordinary knitting needles of the type in common use, and numeral 1designates the thread or yarn that is employed for producing the knittedfabric. The yarn is first looped about needle 5, which is held in theleft hand, and the point of the needle 6 is inserted through the lastloop by the movement indicated 5 by the arrow in Figure 1. Needle 6,which is held in the'right hand, is now held stationary while the threadis looped over the needle, as shown in Figure 2.

Needle 6 is now retracted, as indicated by the 10 arrow in Figure 3, andsimultaneously therewith the thread la is pulled back, forming a. bight8.

The needle 6 is now withdrawn from the loop, through which it is shownas inserted in Figure 15 1, and serves to pull the bight 8 through theloop in the manner shown in Figure 5, which completes one stitch, afterwhich the operation, described above, is repeated.

By means of the ordinary knitting needle and method it is whollyimpractical to employ a plurality of loose threads, as required fortweed fabric, or for boucle as some of the threads will invariably slipfrom the needle unless extreme care is exercised, which makes it tooslow.

The continuous shoulder makes it practical to employ less tension on thethreads than if the shoulder were discontinuous. It also prevents theloosening and separating of the threads from each other where aplurality of threads are employed. The continuous shoulder also reducesthe likelihood of dropping stitches as Well as the danger of splittingthe threads when dropped stitches are recovered and as a result, thestitches are more uniform.

The improved band, as its name implies, is formed from a wide, flat,band of metal or any other material commonly employed for this purposeof an oblong or substantially rectangular cross section, such as isshown in Figures 13 and 4.0 14. The ends are tapered to a blunt point asindicated at 9 and the material of the band is reduced in cross section,as indicated by reference numeral Ill, so as to form a shoulder H. Theends of the band now have the form of an arrow head and have beendesignated by numeral l2. The shoulders II are S-shaped, as shown inFigure 10, and the portion of the band directly to the rear of the headis tapered, as shown in the drawing.

With the improved bands, which have been designated by referencecharacters 5a and Ba in Figures 6 to 9, the thread 1 is looped about theband 5a, as shown in Figure 6, and the end of the band 6a is insertedthrough the last loop in the same manner as shown in Figure 1.

The bands 5a and 6a are held respectively in the right and the left handof the operator, but the thread, is held in the left hand. The operatorbrings the end of the band into contact with the thread, and merely makea small bend in the latter as indicated in Figure 7. The thread orthreads are caught by the shoulder H, and are pulled through the loop,as shown in Figure 8, and the bight 8 of the thread forms the new loop,as shown in Figure 9.

It will be observed that the step corresponding to that required to getthe parts from the posi tion shown in Figure 2 to that shown in Figure3a operation can be accomplished at agreater speed'v than when theordinary needles are used.

Owing to the shape of the cross section,"the

yarn will slide more easily along the rectangular bands than it willalong a round needle, as the yarn does not develop any appreciablefriction except at the corners, because there is no pressure exerted bythe yarn on the fiat sides. (See Figure 14.)

The greatestcross-sectional areas of the arrow heads preferably aresubstantially the same as the corresponding dimension of the remainderof the band. It will be understood that each end may be of a differentdimension where desired, but where the bandsv are of relatively smalldimension it will be desirable to have the cross section of the shouldernotices or greater than the dimension of other portions of the band inorder to get a sufliciently high shoulder. k

The yarn shown in Figures 6 to 9 is intended to represent a plurality ofindependent threads such as must be used for tweed fabric. 7

The dimensions of the band have been purposely increased over the actualdimensions in Figures 10 to 14 for the purpose of facilitating themaking of the drawing.

From the above description it will be apparent that by the use of theknitting band illustrated in the drawing, the operation of knitting canbe simplified and that it becomes practicable to employ a plurality ofthreads, and it thereby makes it possible to knit fabrics that haveheretofore been considered to be beyond the knitters art.

It is to be understood that while the invention has been illustrated asapplied to conventional type knitting, purling and various otherstitches may be produced with equal facility within the spirit and scopeof the invention.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is: v

1. A knitting band of oblong cross section, having a pointed end ofsubstantially oblong cross section, the band being tapered back of thepointed end to form a shoulder therewith extending around the band.

2. A knitting band of non-circular cross section, having a pointed endof non-circular cross section, the band being tapered back of thepointed end to form a shoulder. the cross sectional area at the shoulderbeing greater than the remainder of the band; I 1

3. A knitting band of oblong cross section, having a pointed end ofsubstantially oblong cross section, the band being tapered back of thepointed end to form a shoulder therewith extending around theband, theshoulder being undercut at opposite edges of the band.

4. Aknitting'band of oblong cross section, having a peripherallyshouldered end-portion of substantially oblongv cross section in theform of a flattened arrow-head;

5.;A knitting band ofxoblong cross section, having a peripherallyshouldered end-portion of oblong cross section, the shoulder beingundercut in an 8 curve at opposite edges of the band. a 6. A knittingband of oblongcross section having a pointed end of substantially oblongcrosssection, the band progressively narrowing adjacent the pointed endto form a peripheral shoulder, and the cross sectional area at theshoulder adjoining the narrowed portion of the band being at least.equal to the cross sectional area of other portionsof the band.

JULIA W. PHILLIPS.

